Notes and Essays -- John Brown

“After 26 years in power, age is beginning to take its toll,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine wrote of his Russian counterpart, bragging of a recent strike on St. Petersburg. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, speaking in Sweden last week. Credit... Christine Olsson/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images By Andrew E. Kramer Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine. The New York Times ,  June 4, 2026,  7:34 p.m. ET The original article contains informarive underlining links to texts (not to all othose below). On the heels of a flurry of Ukrainian drone strikes deep in Russia and recent shifts in Ukraine’s favor on the battlefield, President Volodymyr Zelensky published on Thursday an open letter to President Vladimir V. Putin. The letter, posted on the Ukrainian president’s website, offered to resume peace talks — but taunted the Russian leader over wartime setbacks, inflation and Russia’s dependence on China. It also made note of Mr. Putin’s advancing age. Mr. Zelensky has at ...

  Hegseth Pantsed In Pentagon Men’s Room (AP) Newswire In a bizarre incident at the Pentagon today, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was reportedly pantsed in a men’s room by a disgruntled female soldier angry about Hegseth’s stance on women in combat. Assisted by PFPA officers, a shaken Hegseth is seen emerging from a men's room at the Pentagon. Hegseth later remarked that the assailant was remarkably strong, although he said he would not revisit his stance on women in combat roles. The unidentified woman remains at large inside the Pentagon. According to unnamed sources at the Pentagon, Hegseth had just left a high level meeting where he had once again berated high level officers and other military leadership, calling them effeminate, weak, and out of shape. Once the meeting adjourned, Hegseth reportedly entered a men’s room where he was confronted by an unidentified woman, dressed in combat fatigues, hiding in one of the stalls. Hegseth claims to have then been overpowered and, whi...

Hungary agreed to drop its opposition to opening the formal access talks but is still opposed to the fast-track membership process that Ukraine says it needs as protection from Russia. June 4, 2026 at 7:15 a.m. EDT 4 min/ Summary Hungary's Prime Minister Peter Magyar, flanked by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, addresses the media at E.U. headquarters in Brussels on May 29. (Virginia Mayo/AP) By Serhii Korolchuk, David L. Stern and Beatriz Ríos, The Washington Post KYIV — Hungary has lifted its longtime opposition to Ukraine opening formal talks to join the European Union − offering a glimmer of hope to a country traumatized by war that sees membership as crucial to escaping the claws of Russia and securing a free, democratic future. But even as Hungary lowered the roadblock imposed by then-Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who was voted out in April, his successor, Peter Magyar, said the country would continue to oppose a fast-track accession process sought by Ukra...

Elina Svitolina is one Ukrainian player on the WTA Tour, where Ukrainians and Russians meet regularly.   Sebastien Bozon / AFP via Getty Images By Charlie Eccleshare [see below for bio] The New York Times , June 2, 2026 l Updated June 3, 2026;  original article contains numerous links The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 French Open quarterfinals. It’s easy to think of tennis’ relationship with Russia’s war in Ukraine through the prism of a few key moments. Russian player Andrey Rublev wrote “no war please” on a camera lens in February 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion. In September 2022, Daria Kasatkina, also Russian, described the war as a “full-blown nightmare” in a series of interviews in which she also came out as gay. Kasatkina earlier this year defected to Australia, saying in a news conference, “if I want to be myself, I have to make this step.” Wimbledon banned Russian and Belarusian players from competing in 2022, to which the ATP and WTA Tours responded b...

For the first time since the 1930s, more   people are moving out of the U.S. than moving in .   From:  The Wall Street Journal , June 2, 2026

After G.O.P. leaders blocked additional aid to Ukraine, six Republicans and an Independent joined Democrats to force the measure to the floor against the wishes of the speaker. Damage from Russian strikes in Ukraine’s Donetsk region in February. The House took up legislation that aims to target Russia’s oil and gas sector, its primary source of wartime revenue. Credit... Finbarr O'Reilly for The New York Times By Robert Jimison Reporting from the Capitol June 3, 2026, 5:41 p.m. ET The New York Times Defying Republican leaders, the House voted on Wednesday to take up a bill to impose sweeping new sanctions on Russia and provide additional aid to Ukraine, after a bloc of G.O.P. defectors joined Democrats in an effort to ratchet up pressure on Moscow more than four years into the war. The bill, which still must win passage in the House, faces a difficult path to enactment, given divisions in the Senate over a sanctions package and objections from the White House. President Trump has ...